Government Expenditure & Revenue Scotland 2015-16

The publication of Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) 2015-16 was announced today by Scotland’s Chief Statistician.

Total Public Sector Revenue 2015-16

Including an illustrative geographic share of North Sea, Scottish public sector revenue was estimated as £53.7 billion (7.9 per cent of UK revenue). Of this, £60 million was North Sea revenue.

Scotland’s illustrative share of North Sea revenue fell from £1.8 billion in 2014-15 to £60 million, reflecting a decline in total UK North Sea revenue.

Scotland’s public sector revenue is equivalent to £10,000 per person, £400 less than the UK average, regardless of the inclusion of North Sea revenue.

Total Public Sector Expenditure 2015-16

Total expenditure for the benefit of Scotland by the Scottish Government, UK Government, and all other parts of the public sector was £68.6 billion. This is equivalent to 9.1 per cent of total UK public sector expenditure, and £12,800 per person, which is £1,200 per person greater than the UK average.

Current Budget Balance 2015-16

This is the difference between total revenue and current expenditure (i.e. excluding capital investment). The current budget balance:

Excluding North Sea revenue, was a deficit of £12.7 billion (8.6 per cent of GDP).

Including an illustrative geographic share of North Sea revenue, was a deficit of £12.6 billion (8.1 per cent of GDP).

For the UK, was a deficit of £41.5 billion (2.2 per cent of GDP)

Net Fiscal Balance 2015-16

This is the difference between total revenue and total public sector expenditure including capital investment. The net fiscal balance:

Excluding North Sea revenue, was a deficit of £14.9 billion (10.1 per cent of GDP).

Including an illustrative geographic share of North Sea revenue, was a deficit of £14.8 billion (9.5 per cent of GDP).

For the UK, was a deficit of £75.3 billion (4.0 per cent of GDP).

The figures released today were produced in accordance with professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

The aim of GERS is to enhance public understanding of fiscal issues in Scotland. The primary objective is to estimate a set of public sector accounts for Scotland through detailed analysis of official UK and Scottish Government finance statistics. The report is designed to allow users to understand and analyse Scotland’s fiscal position under different scenarios within the current constitutional framework.

Following a user consultation, the publication has been published 7 months earlier, in August 2016 rather than March 2017, in order to provide more timely estimates of Scotland’s public sector finances. This follows efforts in previous years to reduce the time lag in publishing the report, and means that GERS is now published more than 10 months earlier than it was in 2012, and 16 months earlier than it was before 2008. Accelerating the publication schedule involves changes to the expenditure methodology which are discussed in the main document.

The UK Statistics Authority has confirmed that the release of GERS at this time is consistent with the requirements of the Code of Practice to release statistical reports as soon as they are judged ready, according to a published timetable that takes account of user needs, without being influenced by non-statistical matters. This helps ensure that there is no opportunity, or perception of opportunity, for the release to be withheld or delayed.